Andoni Iraola has 'reached an agreement in principle' to be appointed the new Liverpool manager with a 'deal in place' as the former Bournemouth boss prepares to replace Arne Slot
10:22, 02 Jun 2026Updated 10:39, 02 Jun 2026
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Andoni Iraola has 'reached an agreement' to become the new Liverpool boss
Andoni Iraola has reportedly reached an agreement in principle to become the new Liverpool manager.
Liverpool have moved quickly to replace Arne Slot after the Dutchman was sacked on Saturday following a dismal defence of the Premier League title he won in his first campaign.
Iraola swiftly became the frontrunner for the job with discussions taking place between the 43-year-old Spaniard and sporting director Richard Hughes, who are well known to each other from their time at Bournemouth.
Liverpool are in talks with Andoni Iraola about becoming the club's next manager.
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Liverpool are in talks with Andoni Iraola about becoming the club's next manager.(Image: (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images))
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It's now been reported by multiple sources that Iraola has reached an agreement in principle to become the new Reds manager. Talks are said to have advanced over the past 48 hours and a deal is in place.
Following Slot's sacking, senior figures at Liverpool wanted a push towards a more front-footed, aggressive and attacking style of football and Iraola's success at Bournemouth has impressed.
The former Rayo Vallecano boss led the Cherries to a 6th place finish this season to secure the club Europa League football for the first time in their history - finishing only three points behind the Reds.
Iraola would put together his own coaching team despite speculation that Liverpool would look to add former players like James Milner and Thiago to the backroom team.
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Sporting director Hughes is a huge fan of Iraola having pushed for him to be appointed by the Cherries in his role as technical director.
Bournemouth owner Bill Foley previously commented on Hughes' support for Iraola: “It was really a style of play that we were engaging in. We were really a counter-attacking team. I felt we needed to be on the offence. We needed to be aggressive, we needed to attack. That’s Andoni’s style. He’s a [Marcelo] Bielsa student and fast-paced.
“When we had the opportunity, it came to us from Richard Hughes, our technical director. He came to myself and to Neill Blake, the CEO, and then we started talking about it. I said 'if we don’t do this now, we may never have the chance to do this again'."